Agenda - 09-17-2015 - Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 techniques, USDA health restrictions, and, logistical difficulty to gown up 200 guests for a facility tour. • Planned ceremony will include the following guest speakers: ➢ Glendel Stephenson — Mayor, City of Mebane ➢ Earl McKee - Chair, Orange County Board of Commissioners ➢ Gota Morinaga — Chairman, Morinaga & Co., Ltd. ➢ Toshiaki Fukunaga — President, Morinaga Foods America, Inc. ➢ Kazuo Tsunaga — Consul General, Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta ➢ Pat McCrory— Governor of North Carolina (invited) • Morinaga has hired approximately 40 initial employees for first shift operations, employs an additional 24 temporary employees, and has started a new round of interviews to add 40 additional second shift employees. According to State and local inducement agreements, the Company must create 90 new jobs by the end of its 3rd year of operation. • Morinaga reports it has invested an initial $33.2 million as of 6/30/15. The firm pledges to invest a minimum of $34 million, and up to a maximum of $48 million by the end of its 3rd year of operations. Management reports additional capital investment is planned for the remainder of 2015 and into 2016. • Local production of Hi-Chew candy has begun and the Company has been busy meeting quality control audit inspections by key vendors that plan to sell Hi-Chew in its stores. • Orange County's year #1 incentive payment was presented to the company on August 27. • Federal Housing & Urban Development reporting and documentation procedures are proceeding very well related to Orange County's award of a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) by the State to help fund utility line extensions. The N.C. Department of Commerce has commended the County, Mebane, the Company and CDBG grant administration consultant Martin-McGill for exceptional coordination as "among the best the State has seen in a community meeting CDBG reporting requirements". • State of North Carolina will soon issue Morinaga its' year #1 incentive payment, ($66,000) or 25% of the full $264,000 award from the "One N.C. Fund". • Additional project funding by State of North Carolina includes Durham Technical Community College's ongoing technical training services at the Hillsborough campus for new employees, advertisement and prescreening services of prospective employees by the "N.C. Works" office in Chapel Hill, and the now completed industrial site access road built by N.C. Department of Transportation (approx. cost $750,000). • Probability of an eventual Phase Two expansion of equal size is supported by the Company's comments. Timing may be within the next few years.